Playboy sues Boing Boing over hyperlink to centerfolds

News site Boing Boing is defending itself from a lawsuit brought by Playboy alleging copyright infringement because the site linked to Playboy centerfolds.

A blog post on Boing Boing contained a hyperlink to a gallery of Playboy centerfolds and another to a YouTube video with similar content. Playboy alleges that this amounts to copyright infringement and is suing the popular news blog.

It is important to point out that Boing Boing had nothing to do with the creation of the Imgur gallery, or the YouTube video, it merely linked to both in a blog post.

"The world can't afford a judgment against us in this case -- it would end the web as we know it, threatening everyone who publishes online, from us five weirdos in our basements to multimillion-dollar, globe-spanning publishing empires like Playboy,"Boing Boing warns.

It is not alone in its fight against the lawsuit however. Daniel Nazer, Electronic Frontier Foundation Staff Attorney, argues that Boing Boing's use of the hyperlinks is protected under fair use principles.

"Boing Boing's reporting and commenting on the Playboy photos is protected by copyright's fair use doctrine. We're asking the court to dismiss this deeply flawed lawsuit,"he said.

"Journalists, scientists, researchers, and everyday people on the web have the right to link to material, even copyrighted material, without having to worry about getting sued."

If the court rules in favor of Playboy, what is to stop them and/or other companies, groups, etc. from coming after the individual user, who is surfing and just happens to open that link. To me, if they don't want it used, either take it off the net or password protect it. ~just saying